Is it dumb to ask dogs to hold their pee for 9.5 hours?

Hello-

Conditions at my job have steadily deteriorated and apparently it ain't over yet. At present, including my roundtrip commute, my dogs have to be indoors for a total of 8.5 hours without peeing until I get home. Now I will be forced to push that to 9.5 hours. Until now they have managed with very rare accidents, but I feel guilty asking them hold it even further. And I worry that even if it is possible, the longer time might be bad for their health. Does anyone else have personal experience with such long periods? Guidelines quoted online seem to be up to 8 hours maximum.

There were just a few days when we both were still working that we had to leave the dogs in the house for around ten hours. My dogs at the time had been trained as pups to use the newspaper when they couldn't hold it, so on those days I put down newspapers for them in case they really had to go, even though they were very well house broken. Only one time I saw that the papers were wet when I came home, and I was thrilled it didn't go on the carpet.

In my opinion it's not healthy to make them hold it for so long and it's just not right. It's different if during the night the dog is sleeping with you for over 8 hours, everyone is resting/asleep, things are dark and quiet. But during the daytime, especially in a multiple dog household, there's lots of excitement and activity. I think we all know ourselves that just using our body or muscles in certain ways can trigger an urge to urinate. It's not healthy for any person or animal to hold it in, especially for such a long time.

I agree with Esme, the only option in your case would be having someone come over and give them a potty break mid-day, that would be the kindest to the dogs. Nobody feels good if there's an accident in the house, the dogs feel bad and the owner does too.

It's cruel to made a dog wait that long to pee ! Can you do hold it in for that long ?? I also agree to hire a reliable dog walker to take your dog out two times per day to pee ,poop and get some much needed exercise.

It's not always easy, depending on where you live and your situation to get a dog walker, or affordable for some. Personally, I wouldn't trust someone to come into my home and take my dogs out when I was at work, so I would either try to decrease my hours, rush home on a lunch break, or get a doggy door if I had a fenced yard. Or use the newspapers if the dogs were cooperative, and I had papers. I know my dog can hold it for much longer than me, I'm up a couple of times a night and my doggie sleeps right through it all.

I highly recommend getting a dog door. It is great that your dogs are well trained enough to hold it for that long, but this may cause bladder complications in the future. Here is a an article I found that shows the benefits of dog doors - https://www.petdoors.com/blog/why-you-need-a-pet-door/

I highly recommend getting a dog door. It is great that your dogs are well trained enough to hold it for that long, but this may cause bladder complications in the future. Here is a an article I found that shows the benefits of dog doors - https://www.petdoors.com/blog/why-you-need-a-pet-door/

Conditions at my job have steadily deteriorated and apparently it ain't over yet. At present, including my roundtrip commute, my dogs have to be indoors for a total of 8 hours without peeing until I get home. Now I will be forced to push that to 9.5 hours. Until now they have managed with extremely rare accidents, but I feel guilty asking them hold it even further. And I worry that even if it is possible, the longer time might be bad for their health. Does anyone else have personal experience with such long periods? Guidelines quoted online seem to be up to 8 hours maximum.